About

Bamboo Blackbox Cases

$45,901

pledged of $25,000 goal

376

backers

Hello and thank you for visiting our project page. With your help we would love to fashionably protect as many Apple MacBook Pro and MacBook Air computers as possible with a unique new form of sustainable protection.

Bamboo Blackbox Casesprovide a stylish outer shell protection for your 13", 15" and 17" MacBook Pros and 11" and 13" MacBook Airs. The idea for a Blackbox Case was inspired 2 years ago when a neoprene laptop sleeve couldn't protect Lance Atkins' MacBook from a 3 month African backpack safari. Lance, the creator of Blackbox Case, returned home with a beat up, dented and cracked screen on his MacBook Pro and was forced to purchase a new machine.

Back then Lance envisioned a hard case product that was light enough to travel with and could provide the ultimate level of protection for his computer. Over the course of the next year, Lance refined his idea and finally designed the first Blackbox Case made from Oak. With a homemade router and several power tools he perfected his prototype, finally left his garage behind and opened a wood shop. In November of 2010, Oak Blackbox Case #001 shipped in a burlap sack with a letter pressed "Welcome to the Family" warrantee card - Blackbox Case was formed.

Since November, we have shipped nearly 700 unique and individually numbered cases around the world. Now we are looking for your help to kickstart us to the next level by streamlining our entire production workflow and releasing an entirely new line of Bamboo Blackbox Cases.

In March Apple released the iPad 2 and we released the first ever fully protective iPad 2 sleeve case made from bamboo. We couldn't keep up with orders. It was like our production line was broken trying to manufacture both laptop and iPad 2 cases. We needed to find a solution that we could afford while still keeping our beliefs of a locally handmade product intact.

Luckily we found another local wood shop in our hometown of Golden, Colorado that was willing to help us route the pieces necessary to build each iPad 2 Blackbox Case. After days of programming, routing, cutting, testing and retesting our process we were finally able to produce an even better product - in less time.

Below you can see a video of our first successful day routing out what would turn into our first run of bamboo iPad 2 cases - Ironically on a "Kickstarter" green CNC machine that we named Bessie! As you will see when you meet Lance... we were thinking about launching a Kickstarter campaign based solely on our iPad 2 bamboo cases.

Now that we have successfully streamlined our production line for our first bamboo product, we are turning on the lights and opening our doors to you guys to help us complete the rest of our journey. Our goal is to create the programs and workflow needed to sustain production of our entire line of MacBook Pro and MacBook Air Bamboo Blackbox Cases - all while maintaining a completely homegrown and made in the USA product.

At Blackbox Case we love working with bamboo. Not only because of the sustainability and economically friendly properties of this plant, but because it provides such a beautiful and lightweight solution to a problem we've all had. We are firm believers in using our Apple products in their natural state, the way Steve Jobs intends them to be used. The look, color and feel of the perfectly milled aluminum corners of your MacBook Pro and iPad 2 need to be felt to fully understand the art and perfection that has gone into making your product so beautiful. The power of simplicity that goes into designing every Apple product is what we fall in love with. Our mission in developing the Bamboo Blackbox Caseis to invite you to fall in love with a case that protects the products you love. You won't be the first and certainly won't be the last... but as a sign of appreciation for helping us achieve our goals we are going to offer a unique numbering system on every case that gets pledged through our campaign. So technically - you could be the first.

The first person who pledges for a Bamboo Blackbox Case will receive unique identifier case #K001. The second, third and fourth pledge will receive case #K002, #K003, #K004 and so forth. It doesn't matter what size or what color of case you order, we are going to track every pledge in the number it is received. This could be a nightmare to track and organize but we have already confirmed it is doable and hopefully this will show the Kickstarter community that we are truly grateful for every single person who pledges to help us reach our goals. If you pledge for 2 cases or 10 cases, the numbers on your laser cut leather straps will be in order.

If you would like to laser engrave your Blackbox Case with your name or logo, please speak to us and let us know. We have a pledge level available where we will allow laser engraving, but we believe everyone should have the ability to further personalize their case if they desired. So if we need to offer the option for laser engraving on single pledges, we can hopefully work this out as the project moves forward. Or we could just throw it in for free if we hit a certain funding goal — Like if we hit unique Blackbox Case #K999 we would definitely include laser engraving for free! I think we could have a lot of fun with this, especially once you see how gorgeous laser engravings look on your Bamboo Blackbox Case.

Talk about the ultimate gift for that special someone who already has everything (don't we all know someone like that?) The holidays will be here sooner than you know it and we will guarantee delivery date by November with plenty of time to gift a Bamboo Blackbox Case to your loved ones. If this interests you, please let us know your feedback and lets come up with a reasonable goal together.

Thank you for your support and helping us take Blackbox Case to the next level. As you can see in our pledging limits to the right we have tried to accommodate for nearly anyone who would like to be a part of making this product a success. We have included some fun enhancements for those of you who are looking for that extra effort in truly building a product together and we have provided some excellent deals for you early adopters. Don't take our light hearted approach of making something unique and home grown the wrong way — We are firm believers in following your passions and making the most of any opportunity that is granted to you. Life is simply too short to not make something amazing.

Congratulations to Lance Atkins on your new marriage and for your trust in leaving us in charge of Blackbox Case while you embarked on your 2 month honeymoon adventure through South America. We hope you return from this trip with your MacBook Pro in perfect condition since we know you were traveling with a Bamboo Blackbox Case this time. Don't shit a brick when you learn that we decided to roll MacBook Air cases into this Kickstarter project at the last minute!

Some general questions are answered in our FAQ below... If you have any further questions please do not hesitate to ask or contact us :)

Thank you to the Freelance Whales, Frenchkiss Records and Mom and Pop Music for the use of "Generator (First Floor)" off the Freelance Whales 2009 album Weathervanes. (Song Link) If you have never seen the Freelance Whales play live you are truly missing out on a musical experience. Check their website (http://freelancewhales.com) for future shows and updates.

Support

Select this reward

Pledge US$ 1 or more
About US$ 1.00

The gift to *be* awesome! — With your $1 pledge we understand that you can't quite pull the plug on one of our extremely high end handmade in the USA Blackbox Cases... or maybe you don't quite own that Apple device you want to protect. We can still welcome you into the family and give you all future updates on the development of our bamboo project and as a sign of appreciation we will write your name and location on our gigantic map hanging in our Blackbox Case wood shop. In addition to your $1 pledge we will give you a free brewery tour of the worlds largest brewery (redeemable only in Golden, Colorado!)

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge US$ 9 or more
About US$ 9

The gift to *be super* awesome! — With your $9 pledge we understand you may not quite own that Apple device you want to protect, but we will still welcome you into the family. In addition to writing your name and location on our worldly map, we will mail you your own personalized Welcome to the Family Blackbox Case card with a "Neoprene is for old people with bad knees" sticker. Plus, don't forget those 3 free beers at the brewery.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge US$ 29 or more
About US$ 29

The gift to *wear* super awesome! — With your $29 pledge we understand that you support handmade in the USA products and will send you all of the above and include an extremely high quality American Apparel Blackbox Case T-Shirt. The shirt design will be voted on within the Kickstarter community and on top of that we will grant you a free *personalized* brewery tour in Golden, Colorado given by us! We feel like this could be a lot of fun communicating with potential future customers, but don't forget this is only redeemable here in Golden and transportation, hotel and lodging is not provided in your $29 pledge :)

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $79 or more
About $79

FIRST COME FIRST SERVE iPad 2 Case!

In order to kickstart our Kickstarter campaign we want to offer a hundred of our Bamboo iPad 2 Cases at $20 below retail for the first 100 people that see value in what we are creating. Your case will be the first to ship in September if we reach our funding goal. They will be individually numbered in our special Kickstarter only campaign in the order your pledge is received. So if you are the first to pledge you will receive case #K001, second pledge receives case #K002 and so forth. We do not expect this pledge level to be around for very long so please share with your Apple lovers if you know someone who would enjoy a unique case for their iPad 2. Please indicate Carbonized Brown or Natural Bamboo. (Add $10 shipping to Canada - Add $15 shipping international)

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge US$ 89 or more
About US$ 89

iPad 2 Bamboo Blackbox Case

For your $89 pledge you will receive a case that will protect your iPad 2 with or without the Apple Smart Cover. This iPad 2 Bamboo Blackbox Case retails for $99 and provides perfect stylish protection when you are transporting or not using your iPad 2. Available on Kickstarter only, It will be uniquely numbered in the order your pledge is received. Please indicate Carbonized Brown or Natural Bamboo. (Add $10 shipping to Canada - Add $15 shipping international)

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge US$ 99 or more
About US$ 99

11" MacBook Air Bamboo Blackbox Case

For your $99 pledge you will receive a case that will protect your brand new 11" MacBook Air. This 11" MacBook Air Bamboo Blackbox Case will retail for $109 and provides perfect stylish protection when you are transporting or not using your MacBook Air. Available on Kickstarter only, It will be uniquely numbered in the order your pledge is received. Please indicate Carbonized Brown or Natural Bamboo. (Add $10 shipping to Canada - Add $15 shipping international)

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge US$ 109 or more
About US$ 109

13" MacBook Air Bamboo Blackbox Case

For your $109 pledge you will receive a case that will protect your 13" MacBook Air. This 13" MacBook Air Bamboo Blackbox Case will retail for $119 and provides perfect stylish protection when you are transporting or not using your MacBook Air. Available on Kickstarter only, It will be uniquely numbered in the order your pledge is received. Please indicate Carbonized Brown or Natural Bamboo. (Add $10 shipping to Canada - Add $15 shipping international)

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge US$ 109 or more
About US$ 109

13" MacBook Pro Bamboo Blackbox Case

For your $109 pledge you will receive a case that will serve and protect your 13" MacBook Pro. This 13" MacBook Pro Bamboo Blackbox Case will retail for $119 and provides perfect stylish protection when you are transporting or not using your MacBook Pro. When using your 13" MacBook Pro, use your Blackbox Case as a stand below your computer to prevent excessive heat build up on your lap. Available on Kickstarter only, your case will be uniquely numbered in the order your pledge is received. Please indicate Carbonized Brown or Natural Bamboo. (Add $10 shipping to Canada - Add $15 shipping international)

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge US$ 119 or more
About US$ 119

15" MacBook Pro Bamboo Blackbox Case

For your $119 pledge you will receive a case that protects your 15" MacBook Pro. This 15" MacBook Pro Bamboo Blackbox Case will retail for $129 and provides the ultimate in stylish protection when you are transporting or not using your MacBook Pro. When using your 15" MacBook Pro, use your Blackbox Case as a stand beneath your computer to prevent excessive heat build up on your lap. Available on Kickstarter only, your case will be uniquely numbered in the order your pledge is received. Please indicate Carbonized Brown or Natural Bamboo. (Add $10 shipping to Canada - Add $15 shipping international)

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge US$ 129 or more
About US$ 129

17" MacBook Pro Bamboo Blackbox Case

For your $129 pledge you will receive a case that will protect the power of your super creative 17" MacBook Pro. This 17" MacBook Pro Bamboo Blackbox Case will retail for $139 and provides the ultimate in stylish protection when you are transporting your professional grade MacBook Pro from shoot location to edit bay. When using your 17" MacBook Pro to control the world, use your Blackbox Case as a stand beneath your computer to prevent excessive heat build up on your lap. This case is the perfect companion for editors on the go. Available on Kickstarter only, your super case will be uniquely numbered in the order your pledge is received. Please indicate Carbonized Brown or Natural Bamboo. (Add $10 shipping to Canada - Add $15 shipping international - Add $0 for visiting us at the brewery)

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge US$ 189 or more
About US$ 189

Two Hitter Combo Pack

Have an iPad 2 and a MacBook Pro? The combo pack is the way to go. Available on Kickstarter only, your cases will be sequentially numbered. Pledge two for yourself or share with a local friend. Please indicate Carbonized Brown or Natural Bamboo for your iPad 2 case and what size and color for your MacBook Pro Case. (Add $10 shipping to Canada - Add $15 shipping international)

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge US$ 499 or more
About US$ 499

We will catch a flight and hand deliver any Bamboo Blackbox Case, custom laser engraved, to your door. We will then take you out for a few drinks, sleep on your couch, and eat some of your fridge's leftovers. (USA only, please!)

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge US$ 999 or more
About US$ 999

The Laser Engraver 10 Pack

Have a company, band, team or organization that utilizes Apple devices? The laser engraved 10 pack is the way to go. Pick 10 cases... any size and any color and provide us with a logo that we can laser engrave onto your cases. Get 10 friends together and start your own movement. Bamboo Blackbox Cases engrave beautifully. Shipping to 1 location only. (Add $60 shipping to Canada - Add $90 shipping international)

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge US$ 1,999 or more
About US$ 1,999

Adventure Colorado Pack

Not only do you get two (2) personalized Blackbox Cases of your choice - But you get to tour our facilities and hang out with a Blackbox Case representative on a crazy Colorado weekend adventure. Could be skiing - snowmobiling - fishing - shooting belt fed machine guns - rafting - brewery touring or all of the above. Bottom line is we are experts of our lovely state of Colorado. So if you are planning a vacation to the area we want to take care of you. We will provide two days and three nights of accommodation for you and a friend, transportation to and from DIA and two amazing days of Colorado adventure. We don't really expect anybody to take us up on this offer but it is fun to offer it and see who is interested to live a little bit. Thank you for taking the time to learn about Blackbox Case!